Davidson Cemetery
Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
James Madison (Matt) Davidson (1826-1925) came to Texas from Tennessee in 1852 and settled in Milam territory. In 1854 Matt Davidson and Vianna Moore (1832-1912) were the second couple issued a marriage license in Coryell County, formerly Milam territory. After serving in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, Davidson bought land on Coryell Creek and built a log cabin there for his family. Land overlooking the Davidson homestead became the community cemetery. The earliest marked grave is that of S. R. Bailey in 1862. Many burials, including several for small children, took place before the graveyard location was described in a land survey in the 1890's. The community that grew around the cemetery included the Blackfoot and Davidson Schools, the Pecan Grove Post Office, businesses, churches and homes. The graveyard was also called the Blackfoot Cemetery. Among the more than 600 graves are those of veterans of wars from the Civil War through the Vietnam War. The Davidson Cemetery Association was established in 1985 to maintain the grounds. Two acres of land donated in 1988 by a Davidson descendant were added to the original six-acre graveyard. The cemetery continues to serve the area. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Matt Davidson came from Tennessee to the Milam-era Texas frontier in 1852, married one of Coryell County's first couples, and after Confederate service built a log home on Coryell Creek. Land overlooking his homestead became the community burial ground, its earliest marked grave dating to 1862. Around it grew a whole settlement—schools, a post office, churches, and stores—and its more than 600 graves hold veterans of every war from the Civil War through Vietnam.
Why it matters
A single rural graveyard preserves the arc of a Central Texas farming community from frontier settlement through generations of national service, the kind of place-based memory that formal history often overlooks.
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Related people
- · James Madison Davidson
Themes & tags
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